The Colorado State University community once again lived up to its reputation for generosity by making 2021’s Giving Tuesday the second best on record.

More than 1,100 gifts totaling $125,568 were donated on Nov. 30 for the Meal Swipe Program, which is part of Rams Against Hunger and provides 60 meals per semester on the RamCards of eligible students. Of the gift total, nearly 300 were $130 or more, which feeds a student for a month.

That’s good news for the 1 in 10 CSU students experiencing food insecurity.

“This level of support shows that we came together as a whole community to demonstrate the ‘Rams take care of Rams’ mentality,’” said Michael Buttram, the Basic Needs Program manager with the Office of Student Leadership, Involvement and Community Engagement.

Making a bigger difference

The goal of this year’s Giving Tuesday was 1,000 gifts, and an anonymous $25,000 matching gift helped make this year a success.

“I was worried that COVID would shine a harsh light on food insecurity, and then we’d kind of forget about it,” Buttram said. “But I’m feeling more confident we will continue to support this type of work long into the future. It’s going to become our norm; just one of the things we do as a Rams community.”

Even though this year’s Giving Tuesday has passed, you can still support the Rams Against Hunger Meal Swipe Program by clicking here.